nikon D90- Fill flash?

<p>I am new to photography, and I keep reading when photographing in sunlight I should use a fill flash to help fill in some shadows. I have the Nikon D90- how do I use the built in flash as a fill flash? Is there a specific setting I have to put it on? I dont have a speedlight, but do plan on getting one soon.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>Just pop the flash up and shoot. Working distance will not be all that great but it will work well for subjects close to you.</p>

<p>That's easy enough! Thanks! I didnt know if I had to change the settings for the flash or not...Should I always use it when shooting in sunlight?</p>

<p>Press the flash button and hold while turning the front dial to change flash exposure compensation. This way you can learn to control the degree of fill flash, though keep in mind that it does nothing for the ambient light (non-flash) exposure.. Go out and experiment with this and a willing subject. The camera will remind you that the flash is not at default by showing a +/- in the finder and top LCD. While you're at it, keep backing away from the subject about a foot at a time, until you find the limits of your flash. The fill effect will become negligible. Remember that distance, it will prove useful later.<br /> To change the flash mode, press the flash button and turn the rear dial. You can see what mode you're in on the top LCD next to the bolt.</p>

<p>This is all in the manual, which describes all this and much more (in excruciating detail). Read it, don't skim! End to end. Memorize it. Try out the commands. Experiment. Have fun.</p>

<p>If you set the flash to TTL in your menu, it will do balanced fill pretty much on its own. It wouldn't be necessary in most situations to manually adjust flash compensation if you set it this way.</p>

<p>For fill flash you will usually want to set "flash compensation," as Luis instructed, to a value somewhere in the range of -1.0 to -1.7. The idea is to get enough light in the shadows to produce a natural-looking effect, without harsh contrasts between lit areas and shadows. If flash compensation is set above -1.0 or so the flash begins to become the main light source in your photos, and besides being overmatched for this purpose in bright conditions, you will get an un-natural looking effect in your photos.<br>

Fill flash is an excellent reason to get an external TTL flash unit such as the SB-400.<br>

One disadvantage of using fill flash is that it limits your shutter speeds to flash-syncable speeds, usually about 1/200 or slower. This limits your depth-of-field possibilities in strong light.</p>